The Lasker Awards, founded in 1945, are the most prestigious American medical science prizes, with 86 laureates later receiving the Nobel Prize.
Key Facts
- Year founded
- 1945
- Founders
- Albert Lasker and Mary Woodard Lasker
- Nobel Prize laureates among winners
- 86 people
- Nobel Prize winners in last two decades
- 32 people
- Administered by
- Lasker Foundation
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Albert Lasker and Mary Woodard Lasker sought to recognize outstanding contributions to medical science and public health advocacy in the United States, where no equivalent national prize existed to honor such achievements on an annual basis.
In 1945, Albert and Mary Woodard Lasker established the Lasker Awards, to be given annually to living individuals who have made the greatest contributions to medical science or demonstrated significant public service on behalf of medicine, administered by the Lasker Foundation.
The awards became the most prominent American medical science prizes, earning the informal title 'America's Nobels.' Eighty-six Lasker laureates have gone on to receive the Nobel Prize, establishing the award as a reliable indicator of future Nobel recognition in medicine and related fields.